With a string of quality house, nu disco and indie dance pouring out of Erase Records and Tropical Heat, including releases covered on TNG from the likes of Vanilla Ace, James Silk, Wasabi himself and his partner in crime, Sugar Hill, the two imprints are going from strength-to-strength, and are quickly becoming go-to labels for big DJs and cool-kids alike.
Wasabi and Sugar Hill were responsible for last month’s International Dance Music Award-winning track ‘Feeling for You’, which came up trumps in the Best Indie Dance Track category, beating stiff opposition from the likes of ‘Lion, The Lion’ by TEED & Eats Everything, ‘Gonna Get You’ from Sharam Jey & Night Talk and Todd Terje’s ‘Strandbar’. Wasabi weighed in with a remix on the release as well.
We’ve also got an exclusive Wasabi TNG Podcast featuring some of the hottest acts on Erase and Tropical Heat at the minute plus other artists from labels like Toolroom, Off and even some unreleased material from Wasabi himself. All that complete with a tracklist to get your teeth into. You can check out the IDMA award-winning ‘Feeling for You’ when it drops at the end of the mix.
So tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get into music, and what sort of artists/DJs were your inspiration?
I started collecting records at a very young age. At the time, I could only listen to them in my bedroom and play for a few friends. Big Festivals played a major role as well. Then I started travelling around the world and shared music experiences with other people, and that’s when the bug got into me. Artists that really inspired me at first were Moby, Future Sound of London, Orbital, Oliver Lieb and the like.
Congratulations on the IDMA award. How did it feel to win the award in a category featuring the likes of Gui Boratto, TEED & Eats Everything?
It was really exciting and quite unexpected. We could not believe our eyes at first. So feelings were pretty overwhelming.
You obviously enjoy working with Sugar Hill. How come there seems to be so much chemistry between the two of you?
His ideas impressed me from the very first demo I got from him. I felt we share the same mood regarding music, so collaborating with him came naturally. It’s a great thing to build upon a track with another producer, without even having to talk about it.
What’s the story behind Erase? When did it start, who have been the standout artists to have releases on the label?
Erase started back in 2003 in London while we were travelling around and met many young, unknown artists, and we felt that more fresh music should be released out there. So we felt that was the perfect moment to start the label and live the experience. Some of the artists that stand out at the moment are Vanilla Ace, Wasabi, James Silk and Sugar Hill.
What was the thinking behind Tropical Heat? Is there going to be a different kind of output, different artists?
Tropical Heat is more specified regarding the music style, and it is only for a few, closed-group, quality artists collected from Erase.
What do we have in the pipeline for both labels in the next few months?
Big releases from really big artists!
What are plans do Erase/Tropical Heat have for the summer?
We are currently trying to plan a tour this summer, so we are in the process of making arrangements and contacts, and hopefully we’ll be out there soon.
[lbg_audio1_html5 settings_id=’45’]
Tracklist:
1.) ‘Roboaxacet’ – Sean Roman
2.) ‘Fee’ – Full Intention
3.) Grind – James Silk
4.) ‘My Nation’ – Junior Pappa
5.) ‘Payback’ – JR (UK)
6.) ‘Get Up’ – Enzo Siffredi
7.) ‘Ladykiller (L.O.O.P Remix) – Vanilla Ace
8.) ‘Turn It Back’ – Wasabi, HB, L.O.O.P
9.) ‘I want you to Dance’ – Doorly
10.) ‘Feeling for You’ – Sugar Hill
